Monzo and Starling Bank win big at the British Bank Awards

Last night’s glitzy ceremony was attended by the power players of the British Banking community and the main prize, Best British Bank remains the most hotly contested award of the night. 

Starling Bank has defended the coveted title of Best British Bank for the third year in a row, with a customer satisfaction rate of 98.6 per cent. Starling also won the award for Best Current Account Provider and Best Business Banking Provider.

Anne Boden, founder and CEO of Starling Bank said, “Our continued focus on the customer is what drives us and we’re proud to continue to be the Best British Bank, providing current and business accounts and great offerings such as our marketplace, competitive foreign currency rates and forward-thinking mobile banking.”

New entry Triodos Bank came in second with a 98.4 per cent satisfaction rate, while one of Starling’s main rivals Monzo edged down to third place, with 98.2 per cent customer satisfaction.

Tom Blomfield’s digital bank won the award for Best Banking App for a second year running. Other digital banking giant, Revolut, also only took home one award, the prize for Innovation of the Year.

For a second year running, traditional banks took home next to no accolades, NatWest was the only mainstream bank to scoop an award for Best Mortgage Provider.

High street banks also slipped further down the ranks with none of them even making it into the top five. Of the established banks, Halifax ranked the highest in sixth place and TSB followed in seventh. The two banks were the only traditional banks to climb up the table, moving up by two and six places respectively. 

Barclays,Natwest, Santander, Lloyds Bank Virgin Money and HSBC occupied the latter half of the rankings, with only Tesco Bank ranking lower than them coming in last and 14th place. 

According to Smart Money People 46 per cent of consumers now prefer app-based banking, up from 39 per cent in 2019, and app and online banking is now preferred by a massive 79 per cent of the population, so it’s no wonder that the digital banks dominated the award ceremony last night.

This year the British Bank Awards 2020 ramped up their survey, over 40,000 consumers and businesses participated in the voting this year compared to 27,000 participating last year.

The winners of all 27 categories:

Best British Bank: Starling Bank Innovation of the Year: Revolut Treating Customers Fairly Champion: Darlington Building Society Customer Service Champion: Triodos Bank Best Newcomer: Countingup Best Alternative Finance Provider: CapitalRise Best Banking App: Monzo Best Current Account Provider: Starling Bank Best Business Finance Provider: Fleximize Best Business Banking Provider: Starling Bank Best Personal Finance App: Money Dashboard Best FX Provider: WeSwap Best Specialist Mortgage Provider: Monmouthshire Building Society Best Mortgage Provider: NatWest Best Specialist Mortgage Broker: International Private Finance Best Mortgage Broker: Habito Best Investments Provider: Wealthify Best Savings Provider: Vernon Building Society Consultancy of the Year: 11:FS RegTech Partner of the Year: DueDil Technology Partner of the Year: DPR Marketing Partner of the Year: mark-making* The Pioneer Award: ClearBank Best Payment Service Provider: SumUp Best Credit Card Provider: Virgin Money Best Online Trading Platform: Freetrade Best Personal Loan Provider: Zopa